It has been good to get to know new people that have recently come to Mongolia. One family from Australia had never carved a pumpkin before. It is amazing that some things you just assume other countries do the same cultural things as you & to you're surprise find out that they don't. So Teresa, our kids & their kids carved a pumpkin. Their kids were amazed at how slimy the pumpkin insides were. They also couldn't understand that pumpkin seeds baked in the oven were good to eat. "But, Mrs. Teresa how do you get the slime off the seeds?" one of the kids asked. The funny thing was that 3 weeks ago I could only find orange squash & thought they would be our pumpkins, but our Mongolian friend told us that they had found pumpkins on the other side of the city. We were very excited & asked if they could buy us 3. One each for the kids & one for Teresa & I.
It has also been great to see old friends that have come for a visit. Our old ywam school leader, a Kiwi came for a 2 week visit to see friends all over the country. It's always a great time when he comes, to share about what's going on here, what's going on for him back home in the US, to encourage each other & to pray. It's one thing that all of our friends here agree on. One of the biggest ways to encourage is to come & visit if you can.
Kiel this past week had his Fall break, meaning that he had a week off of school. Esme was funny last week asking if she could have her Fall break also. We all had a great time having their friends over for a sleepover, them going to their friends for a sleepover, playing with friends here, there & everywhere. Deep down I now know that the kids having a week off (break from the routine) is so much more of a challenge when you still needs to keep your work routine. In spite of the craziness Teresa & I were able to have some special times with the kids together & alone. I love having the short, but very special times with our kids & the kids are so thankful we share them together.
Things on the home front have been good. The computer room at the community centre has been going well. The kids & adults of all ages have been using the room to research school projects, get their homework online, practice their typing skills, to read the books on the shelves & to sit quietly to finish their homework. It's also a great time to build new relationships & deepen existing relationships with the people that live in our community.
Our kid craft class is still going strong with 30 kids from our ger district coming. For us this craft class is a great family time. All 4 of us really, really like everything that goes on during craft class. Our kids really like getting to know the community kids (their names, ages, brothers & sisters), working together with them making the crafts, helping each other, laughing with them & talking to them in Mongolian & teaching them some English. Teresa & I like learning & doing all same things as our kids do with the Mongolian kids. Each week as we get in the car & start driving down the hill the community kids have big smiles & wave good bye.
Last week while very, very sick in bed had a friend call looking for a place his Mongolian NGO employee could temporally move to. She could no longer live with her extended family any longer. Both her sisters & brother had party/drinking problems. His NGO employee needed to move because life was too stressful living in the same yard (hasha) as her family. I was able to call our staff & offer her a spot on our (community centres) emergency hasha. This is a place we have close to the community centre for people/families that need temporary housing because they have lost their belongings or need to get out of difficult situations.
